Drova has great vibes. It's the best RPG of the year for me - though I doubt it's really going to get any mainstream attention (sadly). It uses a transparent but natural-feeling method to block progress: set enemies that are functionally impossible to kill until you gear up at the opening of new areas. And then lock those necessary gear levels behind story progress. In addition to making it feel like you could go anywhere but shouldn't, it adds a feeling of danger to the exploration. You definitely need to run away from stuff early on. The story is ok, but there are a lot of good characters. On major complaint that I have is that items that you actually end up needing for quests or shines/wells still get marked as "junk" that can be safely sold. It's annoying having to go back and re-buy something you sold for a much higher price than you sold it (if you can even remember which vendor you sold it to). Overall, I highly recommend it.
Great gate. Minus 1 star because it seems like the GOG version is missing some features - specifically the online features and any cross-save capability. Ways Coromon is worse than Pokemon: Less iconic and recognizable monsters (but still great design). Ways Coromon is better than Pokemon: Less bloat in the types (Why is "bug" a type when everything else is elemental? Do you really need both rock and ground type?) Much less RNG cheese and pointless grind - no messing around with discovering EVs. So many QoL features - changing skills at will, skill flashes not being permanent, running and fast travel available from the start, map modification/traversal skills given to your character (not to a monster that you then need to keep in your party)
Really fun game with some great exploring and upgrading. And the story was actually pretty engaging as well. There were just a couple odd issues that kept this from being a 5-star rating from me. I saw the kraken a few times early in my game but avoided it because I was weak. Once I finally felt ready to fight it, I never saw it ever again despite cruising around huge chunks of the map. At one point I ventured into an area that was supposed to be locked behind additional story progression. But instead of telling me and/or blocking my path somehow, the game just reverted my save back to before I completed the island. I thought it had glitched, so I did the area again, only to get my progress removed again. The ships are bugged out. I mainly used the Elephant, which is supposed to be the slowest ship. But when I'd switch to any of the others, they would be even slower and unable to boost.
The game is hilarious, and it actually has some pretty unique and fun weapons. I don't know why more games didn't pick up the frisbee-style grenades. The graphics weren't that great even when it was new, and now it's (obviously) even more dated.
Great indie game that mixes up settlement building with the short, dangerous, randomized sessions that rogue-lites are known for. That makes for an experience where you have shorter, more varied play sessions than city builders are typically known for. It is definitely possible to lose just based on bad luck and not getting what you need to complete events or fulfill orders. But the number of different options or you have for where to make stuff and the recipes used to make them, really opens up so many avenues for creatively solving your problems, that you will be able to come up with solution to more "hopeless" situations than you think. The interface is really solid, though. The game was clearly designed by people who play these types of games - or at least play their own game significantly. You can pause any time and review your inventory, available crafting recipes, and/or blueprints prior to making any significant choice. The game does get pretty complex pretty quickly, though. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what you're looking for. And it hurts to setup your production to focus on one thing, only to either forget a certain piece, or not get offered a crucial blueprint.
Fun game in the style of dwarf fortress, but a bit less intense - which I like. There is definitely space in the genre for something less insanely punishing all the time; I love DF but sometimes it's nice to chill a bit more. The menus and navigation in OR are much more intuitive, and it's fairly easy learning curve to get into the game. The LoFi graphics do make it kind of hard to tell what you are looking at sometimes, but usually it isn't a big deal. The dev is definitely responding to player feedback and implementing good changes and updates. I'm pumped to see how the game progresses and hope that Waylon can keep pumping out enough updates to get everything done that is on the roadmap in a reasonable time.
This game is sort of like they took the sneaking and stealing component of Divinity: Original Sin and expanded it into a whole game. And while there are a ton of flaws, I still found myself really enjoying it. The good: Great map with a lot of verticality I liked the setting and visual style. Overall the movement seemed to work pretty well, and it was easy enough to climb and jump around. Putting on disguises is fun (though, I think that the non-wreath enemies should still be a little less sensitive when you have one on). There is a good amount of stuff to do in the world. Neutral: Vendors have very little cash, so you end up doing more of a trading style where you take their best items in return for your junk. With all the verticality, the map doesn't always give you a very good idea how to get from where you are to where you want to go. So it can be easy to get lost - sometimes kinda cool to try to find your way through, sometimes annoying. Some of the flaws: Your carrying capacity is stiflingly low - and it only gets worse, since you actually start with the skill chip that increases the capacity. This does everything from limiting trying out new weapons and armors to dis-incentivizing you from diving into the crafting. You can rotate the camera 360 degrees, but the angle is fixed. It would be nice to be able to adjust the tilt at many points. Sight lines for NPCs should be easier to see - can't tell when cover actually protects you oftentimes. And enemies end up detecting you through walls a lot. Assassin playstyle is a non-option, as your backstab doesn't one-hit-kill in many situations. And the drop-kill is very hard to employ. And any fight or noise brings everyone for miles running to you. With all the verticality, walls/roofs/landscape going transparent is required. But sometimes it will show you places that you can't actually ever go. The blink ability that you start with is very hard to use. It can't change height at all and has trouble with gaps too.
I was not all that hopeful when going into a side-scrolling stealth game initially, but MotN proved me wrong. It's a great game with stealth gameplay that allows for a number of playstyles (total stealth, assassin, etc.). Highly recommended.
I avoided this game for a long time due to the fact that it was a card game. But I was missing out. Thronebreaker tells a very worthwhile tale, with plenty of the trademark Witcher "grey" choices. And somehow the card-based combat manages to not feel cheesy or cheap. It is definitely worth your while if you care at all about a good story. And it's especially worthwhile if you have any interest in the lore/world of the Witcher books/games.
